Perforated sheet material and a set of sequin/confetti

ABSTRACT

Forming a perforated sheet which comprises a foil component and at least one flexible non-stick coating applied onto a surface of the foil component, wherein a plurality of apertures are then punched through the foil component and the at least one flexible non-stick coating to create a set of colored sequins and confetti with different colors on opposite surfaces.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a sheet, and more particularly, aperforated sheet material and by product sequin/confetti punched outcomponent created during the forming of the sheet.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Numerous innovations for barbecue grill surfaces have been provided inthe prior art that will be described. Even though these innovations maybe suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address,however, they differ from the present invention.

A FIRST EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 3,555,994, Issued onJan. 19, 1971, to Nemetz et al. teaches a disposable drippings-sheddingcover for the grill of a barbecue, formed to fit over and removablyconnect with the food-supporting wires thereof and so conforming to thewires as to provide for ample broiling heat for items of food disposedthereupon while also keeping drippings from the food reaching most ofthe wires of the grill.

A SECOND EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 4,763,639, Issued onAug. 16, 1988, to Goldsworthy teaches a disposable cover for coveringthe cooking surface of an outdoor charcoal fueled barbecue grill anddirecting the quantity and flow of air beneath the cover when it isplaced onto the cooking surface of the grill. The cover is made from amanually formable material having a plurality of perforations arrangedin rows, the perforations of each of the rows being in staggered radialrelationship with the perforations of adjacent rows. The outward facingside of the cover has a highly polished shiny reflective metallic finishfor reducing the radiant heat transfer from the grill and the inwardlyfacing surface has a coating of aromatic wood chips and a bonding agentfor enhancing the flavor of food cooked on the grill.

A THIRD EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 4,969,449, Issued onNov. 13, 1990, to Levin teaches a disposable foil grill which consistsof a corrugated and perforated sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil. Thecorrugations allow smoke to access virtually the entire bottom surfaceof the food being cooked so that the desired barbecue flavor isobtained. Fat from meat being cooked drips into troughs formed by thecorrugation and exits through holes in the troughs onto the coals forgeneration of the smoke and flame which give food a desirable barbecueflavor. Another advantage of the disclosed disposable grill cover isthat the distances between adjacent troughs may be changed by a slightpull on the ends of the foils to perfectly align the troughs with thespacings between the wire grating of the grill. In this way, holesformed in the bottom of the troughs for fat drippings do not allow thedrippings to come in contact with the wire grating.

A FOURTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 5,399,439, Issued onMar. 21, 1995, to Rasmussen teaches a foil web that is arranged forpositioning over a barbecue grill structure to effect the dissipation ofgrease and the like to drip uniformly to underlying briquettes and metersuch grease in a manner to effect its dissipation and vaporization uponcontact with an underlying heating structure. The web includes a matrixof apertures coextensive with the web of specific sizing to effect suchdissipation.

A FIFTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 5,586,491, Issued onDec. 24, 1996, to Diller et al. teaches a disposable flexible foilproduct placed on a barbecue grill comprises a sheet of metal foil withrectangular vents. The pattern consists of two sets of vents equallyoffset from the center with a space in the middle. The pattern isrepeated longitudinally with a central divider between patterns. Thefoil has a flat bottom surface. The foil is dispensable either from aroll or it is packaged in flat sheets or pans, having a scored linespaced in from the edge to allow for manual upturning of the edges.

A SIXTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 5,654,075, Issued onAug. 15, 1997, to Ramirez teaches a food preparation foil including ametal foil layer having a first flexible non-stick coating created onthe metal foil layer and having channel folds running the width thereofthat are oriented in parallel and spaced at intervals of about one andone-half (1½″) inch. Each channel fold includes a number of steamrelease apertures formed therethrough.

A SEVENTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20020023548A1, Published on Feb. 28, 2002, to Almeida teaches a holey foil thatcomprises a sheet of aluminum foil presenting multiple smallperforations distributed throughout most of the surface, cut tostandardized sizes and enclosed in a package or provided in a roll foreasy dispensing.

AN EIGHTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20060143920A1, Published on Jul. 6, 2006, to Morrison et al. teaches anodizedaluminum foil sheets and expanded aluminum foil (EAF) and compositescontaining the same. Methods of making anodized aluminum foil sheets andexpanded aluminum foil (EAF) and composites containing the same are alsodisclosed. Methods of using anodized aluminum foil sheets and expandedaluminum foil (EAF) and composites containing the same are furtherdisclosed.

A NINTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 7,104,187, Issued onSep. 12, 2006, to Robinson teaches disposable electric cooking grillliners for protecting an electric cooking grill having a heated grillingsurface of each of the pivotally connected moveable and stationarygrilling members. Each grilling surface is heated and has raised cookingribs wherein both sides of food placed between the closed grillingsurfaces are simultaneously heated. Each grill liner is formed of asheet of semi-rigid or heavy heat conductive foil preformed for fittingdirectly against and substantially conforming to and covering thecorresponding grilling surface whereby cooking heat provided to eachgrilling surface is substantially transferred through the grilling linerwithout substantial food and juices flowing therefrom coming in contactwith the grilling surfaces. Each grill liner also has a rigidized orstiffened margin for maintaining the preformed shape duringinstallation, use and removal of each said grill liner after use. Ajuice collector and releasable attaching tabs for securement of theupper grill liner are also provided.

It is apparent now that numerous innovations for barbecue grill surfaceshave been provided in the prior art that adequate for various purposes.Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for thespecific individual purposes to which they address, accordingly, theywould not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention asheretofore described.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

AN OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a perforated sheet thatavoids the disadvantages of the prior art.

ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a perforated sheetthat is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

STILL ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a perforatedsheet that is simple to use.

BRIEFLY STATED, STILL YET ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is toprovide a perforated sheet which comprises a foil component and at leastone flexible non-stick coating applied onto a surface of the foilcomponent, wherein a plurality of apertures are then punched through thefoil component and the at least one flexible non-stick coating.

The novel features which are considered characteristic of the presentinvention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself,however, both as to its construction and its method of operation,together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be bestunderstood from the following description of the specific embodimentswhen read and understood in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The figures of the drawings are briefly described as follows:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view showing an embodiment of thepresent invention in use;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view showing the present inventionin a roll ready to be inserted into a dispenser carton;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the presentinvention taken in the area enclosed by the dotted circle indicated byarrow 3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged diagrammatic cross sectional view, taken on line4-4 in FIG. 3, showing the present invention with a non-stick coating onone side thereof;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged diagrammatic cross sectional view similar to FIG.4, showing the present invention with a non-stick coating on both sidesthereof;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged diagrammatic cross sectional view similar to FIG.5, showing the present invention with a double non-stick coating on bothsides thereof; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged diagrammatic perspective view taken in the areaenclosed by the dotted circle indicated by arrow 7 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 illustrates that there are an infinite variety sequin/confettipunched disked

A MARSHALING OF REFERENCE NUMERALS UTILIZED IN THE DRAWING

10 perforated sheet 12 foil component of perforated sheet 14 firstflexible non-stick coating of perforated sheet 10 16 first surface offoil component 12 18 aperture in perforated sheet 10 20 thin flexiblemetal material of foil component 12 22 second flexible non-stick coatingof perforated sheet 10 24 second surface of foil component 12 26 doublelayer for first flexible non-stick coating 14 and second flexiblenon-stick coating 22 28 inner stratum of double layer 26 30 outerstratum of double layer 26 32 hole for aperture 18 34 circularsequin/confetti punched from aperture hole 32 34A square sequin/confettipunched from aperture hole 32 34B hexagon sequin/confetti punched fromaperture hole 32 34C octagon sequin/confetti punched from aperture hole32 34n star sequin/confetti punched from aperture hole 32 36 roll ofperforated sheet 10 38 dispenser carton for roll 36 40 cutting blade ondispenser carton 38 42 hot dog 44 barbecue grill 46 fat/grease

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the figures, in which like numerals indicate likeparts, and particularly to FIGS. 1 through 7, which are a diagrammaticperspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention in use;a diagrammatic perspective view showing the present invention in a rollready to be inserted into a dispenser carton; an enlarged perspectiveview of a portion of the present invention taken in the area enclosed bythe dotted circle indicated by arrow 3 in FIG. 2; an enlargeddiagrammatic cross sectional view, taken on line 4-4 in FIG. 3, showingthe present invention with a non-stick coating on one side thereof; anenlarged diagrammatic cross sectional view similar to FIG. 4, showingthe present invention with a non-stick coating on both sides thereof; anenlarged diagrammatic cross sectional view similar to FIG. 5, showingthe present invention with a double non-stick coating on both sidesthereof; and an enlarged diagrammatic perspective view taken in the areaenclosed by the dotted circle indicated by arrow 7 in FIG. 1, and assuch, will be discussed with reference thereto.

The present invention is a perforated sheet 10 which comprises a foilcomponent 12 and at least one flexible non-stick coating 14 applied ontoa surface 16 of the foil component 12, wherein a plurality of apertures18 are then punched through the foil component 12 and the at least one\26 flexible non-stick coating 14.

The foil component 12 is comprised out of a thin flexible metal material20. The thin flexible metal material 20 is selected from the groupconsisting of aluminum, copper, stainless steel, silver and gold. Theflexible non-stick coating 14 is formed by anodizing the surface 16 ofthe thin flexible metal material 20.

As best seen in FIG. 5, the perforated sheet 10 can further comprise asecond flexible non-stick coating 22 applied onto a second surface 24 ofthe foil component 12, wherein the plurality of apertures 18 are thenpunched through the first flexible non-stick coating 14, the foilcomponent 12 and the second flexible non-stick coating 20. The firstflexible non-stick coating 14 and the second flexible non-stick coating22 are both formed by anodizing the first surface 16 and the secondsurface 24 of the foil component 12.

As best seen in FIG. 6, the first flexible non-stick coating 14 can havea double layer 26 and the second flexible non-stick coating 22 can alsohave the double layer 26. Each double layer 26 comprises an innerstratum 28 being of a clear material and an outer stratum 30 being dyeda specific color. The first color in the outer stratum 30 of the firstdouble layer 26 of the first flexible non-stick coating 14 can be adifferent color then the second color in the outer stratum 30 of thesecond double layer 26 of the second flexible non-stick coating 22.

The perforated sheet 10 comprises a thickness ranging from about 0.001inch to about 0.015 inch. Each aperture 18 in the perforated sheet 10 isa hole 32 having a diameter ranging from about 1/16 inch to about ⅜inch. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 8, each punched out disc piece 24 fromeach hole 32 is a decorative item that can be utilized as asequin/confetti or placed upon a flat surface, such as a wall.

As shown in FIG. 2, the perforated sheet 10 is of an elongated lengthand rolled up into a roll 36. A dispenser carton 38 is provided having acutting blade 40 thereon. The roll 36 of the perforated sheet 10 iscarried within the dispenser carton 38 to be dispensed therefrom by thecutting blade 40 when needed.

A process for forming the perforated sheet 10 comprises the steps of:

-   -   1. Producing the foil component 12;    -   2. Anodizing the foil component 12; and    -   3. Punching the anodized foil component 12 with a plurality of        apertures 18 therethrough. It is to be noted that it imperative        that if the foil is to have different colors on opposite        surfaces that it be punched after anodizing so that chemical        processing fluids from opposite surfaces do not mix with each        other. It is to be further noted that the apertures may be        formed in an infinite variety of shapes, typically but not        limited to circles, ovals, polygons stars etcetera for which        just a small number have been illustrated in FIG. 8. The last        disc piece sequin/confetti illustrated in FIG. 8, punched from        aperture hole 32 is accordingly numbered 34 n to imply the        selection of shapes is truly infinite. It is also to be noted        that all the apertures formed in a sheet need not all be of the        same shape.

FIGS. 1 and 7 show the perforated sheet 10 cooking hot dogs 42 on abarbecue grill 44. The apertures 18 will control the amount of fat andgrease 46 dripping into the barbecue grill 44, thereby reducingflare-ups. The flexible non-stick coating 14 will shield the hot dogs 42and prevent them from sticking thereto.

The perforated sheet 10 can also be utilized for other types of cooking,such as covering a frying pan to reduce splattering of grease and sauce.The perforated sheet 10 can also be used in an oven.

The perforated sheet 10 when dyed colors can also be a decorative itemwhen mounted upon a wall or the like. The disc pieces 34 when attachedto clothing can become sequins.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofconstructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodiments ofa perforated sheet, accordingly it is not limited to the details shown,since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications,substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the deviceillustrated and its operation can be made by those skilled in the artwithout departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge,readily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitutecharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.

1. A perforated sheet which comprises: a) a foil component; b) a firstflexible non-stick coating disposed on a first surface of said foilcomponent; and c) a second flexible non-stick coating disposed on asecond surface of said foil component; wherein said second surface ofsaid foil component is opposite to said first surface of said foilcomponent so as to allow said second surface of said foil component tobe separate and distinct from said first surface of said foil componentso as to allow said first flexible non-stick coating and said secondflexible non-stick coating to be disposed on opposite sides of said foilcomponent, respectively; wherein said first flexible non-stick coatingand said second flexible non-stick coating are both oxide coats; whereinsaid first flexible non-stick coating has a double layer; wherein saidsecond flexible non-stick coating has a double layer; and wherein saidfirst flexible non-stick coating, said foil component, and said secondflexible non-stick coating have a plurality of apertures therethrough.2. The perforated sheet as recited in claim 1, wherein said foilcomponent is comprised out of a thin flexible metal material.
 3. Theperforated sheet as recited in claim 2, wherein said thin flexible metalmaterial is selected from the group consisting of aluminum, copper,stainless steel, silver and gold.
 4. The perforated sheet as recited inclaim 1, wherein each said double layer comprises: a) an inner stratumbeing of a clear material; and b) an outer stratum being dyed a specificcolor.
 5. The perforated sheet as recited in claim 4, wherein said firstcolor in said outer stratum of said first double layer of said firstflexible non-stick coating is of a different color then said secondcolor in said outer stratum of said second double layer of said secondflexible non-stick coating.
 6. The perforated sheet as recited in claim1, wherein said perforated sheet comprises a thickness ranging fromabout 0.001 inch to about 0.015 inch.